Philipp Melanchthon

The quality of these three large woodcuts and their affinity to the painted, life-sized, full-length portraits of Luther and Melanchthon from the Cranach workshop suggest they were based on a sketch by Cranach the Younger. To the images of the two Reformers, a portrait of the Bohemian Reformer Jan Hus was added. Hus’s teachings and ideas were adopted by Luther, who considered him a precursor. Hus was condemned and burned at the stake by the Council of Constance in 1415. Each of these prints is composed of eight large and three small sheets. In the case of Melanchthon and Hus, in order to save work and thus costs, the blocks were changed only for the heads. The electoral coat of arms suggests it was commissioned by the sovereign. These woodcuts, several copies of which survive, usually from churches, were not produced in large editions or inexpensively. At the same time, they did offer a simpler, more affordable and broader way to disseminate portraits than would have been possible with paintings.